The Valley Hospital Announces Expansion/Reconfiguration Plans

During last night’s Village Council Work Session, Audrey Meyers, President and CEO of The Valley Hospital and The Valley Health System, publicly revealed Valley’s plans to expand/reconfigure its campus at Linwood and Van Dien Avenues.

Phase I of Valley’s plan will require relocating most employee parking from Linwood & Van Dien to a nearby “off site” location. A new “North Building” would be constructed at the site of an existing surface parking lot that now separates the Valley’s buildings from Benjamin Franklin Middle School. Ms. Meyers estimated that construction of this new “North Building” would take 2 years. The new building would have four (4) above ground and two (2) below ground levels.

Following occupation of their new “North Building,” Valley would begin phases II, III, and IV of their overall expansion/reconfiguration plan. New “West” and “East” buildings would be erected, in concurrence with the demolition of current structures built/occupied in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and an expanded surface & underground parking lot would be constructed at the campus’ south end (near Linwood Avenue).

Based on data provided during Ms. Meyers’ presentation, Valley is planning to significantly increase the usable building square footage at the Linwood & Van Dien site. This might require a major change in the Village’s existing “hospital zone” land use ordinance.

Valley plans to mail complete details of their proposal to all Ridgewood residents sometime within the coming week.

A. Principal uses and structures. The following principal uses and structures shall be permitted: (1) Hospitals for humans. (2) Child-care centers. (3) Municipal buildings owned or leased by the Village of Ridgewood and used for public purposes.

B. Accessory uses and structures. The following accessory uses and structures shall be permitted, provided that they are located on the same premises as the principal use or structure to which they are accessory: (1) Parking facilities, as regulated in §§ 190-90 and 190-121. (2) Signs, as regulated in § 190-122. (3) Accessory uses customarily incident to the above principal uses.

C. Conditional uses and structures. The following conditional uses and structures shall be permitted in the H District only if they comply with the appropriate regulations for such uses or structures in § 190-123: [Amended 10-13-1998 by Ord. No. 2643] (1) Public or private schools for kindergarten through grade 12. (2) Houses of worship. (3) Public utility buildings and structures. (4) Cellular telecommunications antennas mounted on an existing structure at least 40 feet high.

D. Prohibited uses. Any uses other than those uses permitted by this section are prohibited. E. Bulk and lot regulations. The following conditions and requirements shall be complied with: (1) Maximum building height: 48 feet, provided that roof-mounted service equipment structures may exceed such height by a maximum of 17 feet, subject to Subsection F below. (2) Minimum front yard: 40 feet. (3) Minimum side and rear yards: three feet for every one foot of height of the building. (4) Maximum coverage by above-grade structures: 16% of the lot area. (5) Maximum floor area ratio: 65%. (6) Maximum coverage by improvements: 90% of the lot area. [Amended 6-7-1999 by Ord. No. 2670] (7) Screening of parking areas. Parking areas which directly abut upon property zoned and used for residential purposes shall have a continuous wall not less than six feet in height and not more than eight feet in height along the common property line to separate such properties. Other area for parking of vehicles shall have a suitable hedge or other natural planting within the required setback area.

F. Other regulations. Roof-mounted service equipment structures permitted by this section shall be subject to the following: (1) They shall be set back at least one foot for every two feet in height of the service equipment structures, measured from the perimeter of the roof on which the structure is located. (2) They shall not occupy more than 65% of the roof area of any building on which such service equipment structure is located. (3) They shall not exceed 25% of the land area covered by buildings on the property.

Oh sure I want gasoline for my car, electricity for my home, recreation fields for my kids to play on and good medical care close by and easily accessible, just don’t drill for oil in MY BACK YARD, put that electric generation plant in MY BACK YARD, have recreation fields in MY BACK YARD or allow VALLEY HOSPITAL to expand in MY BACK YARD!